[3/12, 5:50 p.m.: Other Minds Festival 25 will be rescheduled with further news to follow. Those that have already purchased tickets will have the option of requesting a refund or making a fully tax-deductible donation by returning the tickets.]
As was observed yesterday, we have no way of knowing whether the current cancellation of performances at the San Francisco War Memorial & Performing Arts Center will extend beyond Friday, March 20, and, if so, for how long. This will be of particular concern to those with adventurous tastes in music, since those tastes were due to be fulfilled at the beginning of next month at a War Memorial venue. Next month is scheduled to begin with the 25th anniversary edition of the annual Other Minds Festival of New Music with a program of four concerts scheduled over the course of four days.
As was observed yesterday, we have no way of knowing whether the current cancellation of performances at the San Francisco War Memorial & Performing Arts Center will extend beyond Friday, March 20, and, if so, for how long. This will be of particular concern to those with adventurous tastes in music, since those tastes were due to be fulfilled at the beginning of next month at a War Memorial venue. Next month is scheduled to begin with the 25th anniversary edition of the annual Other Minds Festival of New Music with a program of four concerts scheduled over the course of four days.
This year’s festival will be curated by jazz concert producer Harry Bernstein. The first evidence of Bernstein’s influence can be found in the festival title, Moment’s Notice. This is the title of a song composed by John Coltrane, who recorded it only once on his Blue Note album Blue Train. Nevertheless, the tune has come close to “classic” status, recorded by many major artists including the late McCoy Tyner (pianist in Coltrane’s famous quartet but not on the Blue Train recording). Each of the four programs will amount to a series of “sets,” in the jazz sense of the word; but many of the performers themselves have been involved in adventurous approaches to improvisation and composition that go far beyond what one expects at a jazz concert.
Many of the performances themselves will combine the performance of music with other media, including dance, theater, and video. In this context the planned lineups for the four concerts will be as follows:
Thursday, April 2, 8 p.m.
- Butoh dancer Oguri will perform in an improvised set with Myra Melford (piano) and Mark Dresser (bass)
- Zeena Parkins (harp) will lead a trio improvisation set, performing with Ikue Mori (electronics) and William Winant (percussion)
- William Parker (bass flute and brass) will present a dance/theater work, “The Sky is Trembling,” performing with dancer Patricia Nicholson and Hamid Drake (percussion), both of whom will also provide vocals
Friday, April 3, 8 p.m.
- Roscoe Mitchell (woodwinds and percussion), a cofounder of the Art Ensemble of Chicago and the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, will perform a quartet improvisation set with Ambrose Akinmusire (trumpet), Junius Paul (bass), and Vincent Davis (drums)
- Saxophonists Joe McPhee and Mats Gustafsson will improvise
- Jen Shyu will present a theatrical work entitled “Nine Doors”
Saturday, April 4, 8 p.m.
- Joëlle Léandre (bass) will perform a duo improvisation with vocalist Lauren Newton
- Wadada Leo Smith (trumpet) will perform his Reflections and Meditations on Monk in collaboration with live video provided by Jesse Gilbert
- Darius Jones (alto saxophone) will join vocalist Amirtha Kidambi in a performance of Angels and Demons, based on poetry written by Sun Ra
Sunday, April 5, 4 p.m.
- Mary Halvorson (guitar) will perform a duo improvisation with pianist Sylvie Courvoisier
- Elliott Sharp will perform a set of solo improvisations on eight-string guitar
- The final set will bring saxophonist Anthony Braxton together with harpist Jacqueline Kerrod for one last round of improvisations
The entire festival will take place in the Diane and Tad Taube Atrium Theater, located on the fourth floor of the Veterans Building at 401 Van Ness Avenue on the southwest corner of McAllister Street. Festival Passes for all four concerts are being sold for $175 with a $115 rate for students. They may be purchased online through a Brown Paper Tickets event page. Single tickets cost $45 and $25 for students. They may also be purchased through Brown Paper tickets, which has created separate event pages for Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
It would also be fair to note that Outsound Presents has planned two concerts during this same period of time. The usual LSG Creative Music Series concert at the Luggage Store Gallery (LSG) will take place on Thursday; and there will be a SIMM (Static Illusion Methodical Madness) Series concert on Sunday. Specifics are as follows:
- The LSG Creative Music concert will follow the usual format of two sets of improvisations. The first will a solo performance by Amanda Chaudhary working with electronics and other synthesis gear. She will be followed by the trio of Tony Passarell (drums), Colleen Kelly T (cello), and Rent Romus (saxophones), all of whom will also be playing “things.” The first set is scheduled to begin at 8:15 p.m. on Thursday, April 2. LSG is located at 1007 Market Street, across from the corner of Golden Gate Avenue and Taylor Street; and admission is usually on the sliding scale between $8 and $15.
- The SIMM program will also consist of two sets. Specifics for the second set have not yet been announced. However, the opening set will be taken by the VOCO trio of Tim S (drums), Alex Y (guitar), and Josh M (bass). (Yes, that is how they identify themselves on their Facebook About Web page!) This concert will begin at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, April 5. The venue is the Musicians Union Hall, located at 116 9th Street, near the corner of Mission Street. Admission is on a sliding scale between $10 and $20.
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